Move Over Barbie

TIME featured a video of kids reacting to Nicolay Lamm's "realistic" Barbie Doll. His creation, "Lammily," is based off the average 19 year old american woman. She comes with stickers to be applied to her skin, giving her complexion the look of acne, stretch marks, freckles, and cellulite. In an effort to show young kids that real women are beautiful, "Lammily" relates to girls on a personal level. One little girl even said, “She kind of looks like my aunt Katie.”

Barbie is a great role model for young girls because she can do anything. I myself had Dr. Barbie, Babysitter Barbie, and Ballerina Barbie just to name a few. But I've realized over the years, that she also emits an unrealistic body image. It's important for kids to see that the Barbie we know and love could not exist in the real world. Her proportions would force her to walk on all fours, and her waist line would only have room for half a liver and a few inches of intestine. Safe to say that in reality, she couldn't do much of anything.

I've seen pictures of the new doll, and I'm glad "Lammily" exists. We should give her a chance to show young girls that even with a 35" waist, acne and freckles, we are beautiful.